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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26842924">Running Out of Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowerSupreme/pseuds/SunflowerSupreme'>SunflowerSupreme</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Witcher (Books) [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:08:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>640</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26842924</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowerSupreme/pseuds/SunflowerSupreme</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Geralt is buried alive after a contract goes south.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Whumptober Day 4: Running Out of Time</i></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia &amp; Jaskier | Dandelion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Witcher (Books) [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624276</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Running Out of Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Prompt:<br/>No 4. RUNNING OUT OF TIME<br/>Caged | Buried Alive | Collapsed Building</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">“Geralt!” Dandelion skittered to a halt beside the rubble where the house had once stood, his eyes wide with panic. “Geralt!” he shouted again. </p><p class="p1">He’d been waiting outside while the Witcher had gone in to deal with a troll. It was an ordinary, run of the mill contract.</p><p class="p1">And then the roof had fallen in, which had lead to Dandelion running to help him.</p><p class="p1">“Geralt!” he shouted again, dropping to his knees in an attempt to peer under the rubble. No such luck.</p><p class="p1">The roof had fallen nearly straight down, though the walls had remained more or less in tact. There was a small gap between the remains of the roof and the floor, so, if Dandelion was careful, he might be able to get in.</p><p class="p1">Cursing fate, Melitele, and everything else he could think of, Dandelion shucked off his lute and then his shirt, tossing both of them on the ground to wait. Then he dropped to his stomach and attempted to slither inside the ruins. “Geralt you horse’s arse, where are you?” he demanded.</p><p class="p1">The rubble rubbed at his skin, leaving raised, red abrasions. Something rumbled ahead of him, and Dandelion was suddenly forced to remember that Geralt wasn’t alone.</p><p class="p1">There was also a troll.</p><p class="p1">“Shit.”</p><p class="p1">But as badly as he wanted to turn around and run he knew that Geralt might actually need him.</p><p class="p1">He continued forward, agonizingly slowly, painfully aware of the silence around him. “Geralt!” he called again.</p><p class="p1">A weak groan answered him.</p><p class="p1">“Oh thank fuck, where are you?”</p><p class="p1">“Dandelion?” The voice was weak and seemed to be coming from his left, Dandelion turned and peered into the darkness, wishing he had Geralt’s low light vision.</p><p class="p1">But there was something moving in front of him. “Is the troll dead?” Dandelion asked.</p><p class="p1">After a moment Geralt mumbled, “Think so.”</p><p class="p1">The bard crawled toward the movement, and his hand came into contact with something warm and wet. “What am I touching?” he asked.</p><p class="p1">“M’ head.”</p><p class="p1">“You’re bleeding.”</p><p class="p1">“Hm. Might be.”</p><p class="p1">Dandelion frowned, running his hand down Geralt’s head to rest on his shoulder. “I’m going to pull you out,” he said.</p><p class="p1">Geralt grunted his assent.</p><p class="p1">But as soon as Dandelion pulled he cried out in pain. The bard froze. “Geralt what is it?” he asked worriedly. “Leg’s stuck,” moaned Geralt. “Gimme a minute.”</p><p class="p1">He could hear movement in front of him, and finally Geralt said, “Alright.”</p><p class="p1">Dandelion began the slow process of pulling him out. Geralt was able to help a bit, but Dandelion told him to save his strength. That sounded like a good thing to say, and Geralt didn’t argue, so he reasoned it must have been a good choice.</p><p class="p1">Geralt continued to whimper and grunt occasionally, but Dandelion reasoned that, as long as he was still making noise that meant he was still conscious, which was far better than the alternative. “Geralt?”</p><p class="p1">“Yeah Dandelion?”</p><p class="p1">“Just stay with me, we’re almost out.” His feet were outside of the ruins and with a few more wiggles Dandelion was free. But he couldn’t celebrate just yet. He reached inside the building and grabbed Geralt’ managing to pull the Witcher out into the daylight.</p><p class="p1">He looked terrible. Blood matted his white hair and his clothes were stained and torn (of course, Dandelion’s clothes probably weren’t much better).</p><p class="p1">Geralt coughed weakly and tried to sit up, only to lay back down.</p><p class="p1">“Geralt-”</p><p class="p1">“White honey,” the Witcher said. “You got my pack?”</p><p class="p1">Dandelion stumbled away to where Geralt had left his belongings, returning a moment later with the requested potion, helping Geralt to drink it. The Witcher relaxed, closing his eyes. “I- I need to rest,” he said.</p><p class="p1">“Not here-” Dandelion began.</p><p class="p1">“Here,” said Geralt firmly. “Won’t be long till I can walk.” Then he grabbed Dandelion and pulled him closer. “Stay,” he mumbled.</p><p class="p1">The bard couldn’t argue with that.</p>
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